West Africa · Sahel
Hausa
Harshen HausaThe trade language of the Sahel, carried along the trans-Saharan routes by the Hausa city-states of Kano, Katsina and Zaria — and still written in Ajami as well as Latin script.
- Family
- Afro-Asiatic (Chadic)
- Script
- Latin (Boko) and Arabic (Ajami)
- Speakers
- ~90 million speakers including second-language users
- Spoken in
- Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Cameroon, Chad
The course
Five units, one word at a time
0/5 mastered
Unit 1
Greetings
Sahelian greetings are unhurried and ask after everyone at home.
- Sannu — Hello
- Ina kwana? — Good morning (how did you sleep?)
- Ina wuni? — Good afternoon
- Lafiya lau — I'm well / all is well
- Na gode — Thank you
- Sai anjima — See you later
Unit 2
People and family
The household words.
- Mutum — Person
- Uwa — Mother
- Uba — Father
- Yaro — Boy / child
- Yarinya — Girl
- Aboki — Friend
Unit 3
Numbers one to ten
The counting you will hear in any Kano market.
- Daya — One
- Biyu — Two
- Uku — Three
- Hudu — Four
- Biyar — Five
- Goma — Ten
Unit 4
Food and the market
Kasuwa Hausa — the language of the marketplace.
- Ruwa — Water
- Abinci — Food
- Kasuwa — Market
- Nawa ne? — How much is it?
- Ina so — I want
- Yayi tsada — It is expensive
Unit 5
Everyday phrases
Getting help, saying sorry, finding your way.
- Don Allah — Please (literally: for God's sake)
- Eh — Yes
- A'a — No
- Ina? — Where?
- Ban gane ba — I don't understand
- Yi hakuri — Sorry / be patient
How to sound right
- Hausa is tonal, with high, low and falling tones.
- Hooked letters ɓ, ɗ and ƙ are separate sounds made with a catch in the throat.
- Sannu is the all-purpose greeting; the reply is Sannu kadai or simply Sannu.
The audio button in lessons uses your device's speech engine, which rarely has a native African voice. Treat it as a rough guide and trust the written pronunciation hints and the coach instead.
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